Friday, March 17, 2017

Cuba offers Colombia 1,000 medical school scholarships

HAVANA — Cuba has offered Colombia 1,000 medical school scholarships to
support a peace accord in which the South American country's largest
rebel army will relinquish its weapons, officials announced on Thursday.

The scholarships will be distributed mostly to members of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and those affected by the
decades-long conflict, said Jose Luis Ponce, Colombia's Cuban
ambassador. He said the move would help soldiers reintegrate into society.

"Both the government and FARC warmly welcomed this offer," he said.

Some 200 scholarships for Cuba's renowned Latin American School of
Medicine will be awarded annually for the next five years and will cover
all costs except flights to Cuba. Manuel Chorot, manager of state-owned
Cubana de Aviacion, said he would offer affordable tickets to
scholarship recipients.

The students are scheduled to start their studies in September in Cuba,
which hosted peace discussions between Colombian government officials
and FARC members that lasted four years and ended in 2016.

FARC commander Ivan Marquez thanked Cuba for what he said was a
humanitarian gesture that would aid the peace process.

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